Kin

by Bathsheba Doran

Genres: Plays

Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd, elliptical play that circles around the central relationship, which somewhat renders that as peripheral. Plus the play is hijacked by a subsidiary character, Helena, who is much more interesting than the central couple.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play starts slow. It’s hard to attach to the characters, but then there is a shift and everything opens up in a lovely way.

[Theo]

I have to direct a scene from this play and I'm not happy about it. It's a fine play I just hate that class

[Rachel Dalton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My good friend Anna and I have recently started swapping our plays. We're both always on the hunt for more monologues to learn and figured this would be an easy way to expand our repertoire without spending tons of money on scripts.

This one didn't have many monologues that jumped out for me personally, but I still enjoyed reading it immensely. Any play that has a good dialect to learn (Irish, in this case) has my attention.

There were a few plot-related things that didn't make sense to me - like how the character of Anna went from feeling doubt about her relationship to getting married in the next scene. What?

I think I loved the character of Sean's mother the most. I like her story, and how the secret she carries defines her character. I'd be interested in playing that role when I'm older.

This play is in the same vein as movies like "Love Actually" - characters who are all tangentially related sharing their small pieces of the puzzle until a full picture is formed at the end once all the pieces are in place.

The script didn't blow my mind, by any means, but it was still very enjoyable. Yay acting research!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sleepless in Seattle of plays. I'd like to see this performed because I know it's supposed to be a romance, but from the writing alone, I wasn't excited to see the couple get together at the end...and I really, really want to be excited about a love story.

[David Laurin · Rating 2 out of 5]

L'auteur dialogue bien, mais l'histoire s'essouffle en cours de route. J'ai eu de la difficulté à m'identifier à ces personnages, et j'ai rapidement perdu tout intérêt. J'ai terminé ma lecture de peine et de misère. Il y a pourtant de très belles scènes. Matériel intéressant si on veut monter des extraits de pièces, mais globalement, j'ai trouvé ça lourd.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just gorgeously simple, honest look at how scary falling in love is. And how that unknown is all we’ve got, and maybe that’s enough.

Edit: 2/14/19 a beautiful valentine’s day re-read. Love is a scary leap into the unknown. Sometimes, you’ve just got to listen to your body and dive in.